Payday 3: How to stealth Fear and Greed

Fear and Greed is the final heist in Payday 3’s The Bad Apple campaign, and it may also be the hardest one to complete in stealth.

As the game’s Year 1 DLC plan comes to a close, Payday 3 has released the Fear and Greed heist alongside a batch of other content. Featuring the return of Houston who was broken out of prison in the last heist, players are tasked with infiltrating the New York Stock Exchange to hit Concord where it hurts him the most – his money.

As always, Fear and Greed can be played in both loud and stealth. Here’s how to finish the heist without raising the alarm.

How to stealth Fear and Greed

Firstly, make sure you’re using our recommended stealth loadout. There are a few skills here that will help you to sneak through the stock exchange.

It’s also worth noting that having the Start inside the Exchange favor will help you skip the beginning of the heist and also massively cut down on the difficulty of the second part. If this is the case, skip down below to our section on inside the stock exchange.

When the mission begins, you’ll be on the roof of the Stock Exchange. Shade tasks you with shutting off the power to the elevator and grabbing a zipline bag. Be careful, as several guards and cameras are patrolling the roof.

The zipline bag can be found in any one of the air vents located around the rooftop. Meanwhile, you can shut off the power to the elevator by searching the rooms with lockpickable doors.

Once you’ve found the lever that shuts off the power, follow the cable that’s coming out of the power box and it’ll lead you to the correct elevator that it powers. Interact with the doors to get inside the shaft, and then drop the zipline bag into the drop zone.

With the zipline set up, interact with it to travel down the elevator shaft and land on the lower floor. Interact with the elevator door to open it and gain access to the Stock Exchange.

Inside the Stock Exchange

Whether you started masked up on the roof are unmasked after using the Start inside the Exchange favor, you’ll be in the main area of the Stock Exchange now. This part of the map consists of several areas. The main kiosk area is full of civilians and patrolling guards. We advise only moving through here when you need to though.

From here you’ll be instructed to find an office belonging to one of the trading companies: Jordan or SwapMeet Trading. These offices are located on the upper floor of the Stock Exchange. To get in there though, you’ll need an RFID tag or a QR code. Be sure to confirm which one you’ll need first by checking the entrance to the office. Also, look for a Red Keycard as you’ll need this later.

RFID tag location

The RFID tag is located in the upper offices just above the central exchange area. You can find several located on the traders’ desks. There’s a few cameras here as well as a guard or two patrolling through the area, so be careful not to get spotted.

QR Code location

The QR code is carried on the phone of one of the employees. If you find an employee roaming around with a cell phone you can hack into, interact with it and stand in the large circle until you’ve filled up the circle.

Red Keycard location

The Red Keycard is carried by an employee. The best places to start looking for the keycard is in or near the Big Meeting Room or Speaker Hall. You can grab it from the back of the employee’s jacket.

Getting the USB key

Next you’ll need to head to the office of whichever trading company Shade has instructed you to go to. As mentioned earlier, it’ll be either Jordan or SwapMeet. Both offices are located on the upper floor on opposite sides of the building. Use the RFID tag or QR code on the scanner and enter the office.

You may trigger a silent alarm from here, with about just over a minute until it goes off. Search around for a small wall unit that will let you cut the wire and disable the alarm. It’ll be located either inside or outside the office.

Once that’s done you’re free to roam around in here. Shade will ask you to hack a nearby PC. If you’re masked up, you might want to close the blinds by pressing the buttons next to the windows and subsequently tying everyone up. Move them into a safe place and continue with the hack.

Eventually, Shade will also ask you to search through a bunch of files inside the office to find some numbers she needs. Once you’ve done this you can complete the hack. Finally, she’ll ask you to find a USB key. It’s located in the safe somewhere in the office. Crack the safe, grab the USB and exit the office.

If you’re masked up, this is the tricky part. You’ll need to go down into the main Stock Exchange area and plug the USB into one of the kiosks. Any will do, but watch out for civilians and guards spotting you as there’s very little cover here. When you find a suitable station, plug in the USB and wait for Shade to gain access. When she’s ready, retrieve the USB and head back upstairs.

Exchanging the stocks

Next up you’ll need to go to the Transfer Control Room. It’s a secure office on the upper floor that requires the Red Keycard to access. Enter the room and tie up all the civilians in there. Plug the USB into the console and Shade will begin the stock transfer process.

From here, you’ll need to grab three separate numbers to input on the console. Each kiosk in the central Stock Exchange area will have a code, such as X4 or K2, and this code will appear on the console.

So, take note of which kiosk you’ll need to go to and head there. Look for a panel you can remove in the kiosk and interact with it. After a moment, a four-digit number will flash up on the screen. Take note of it and then head back to the console in the Transfer Control Room. You will then need to repeat this process two more times, for a total of three separate entries on the console.

Once you’re done, Shade will continue the transfer process. The number in the top left corner will continue ticking up, and the longer you leave it the more money you’ll get. Let it count up for as long as you like, but beware of roaming guards and civilians noticing any evidence you left lying around. They also may come into the Transfer Control Room, so they should be dealt with if that happens.

Once you’re satisfied, grab the USB key and head downstairs to find the EMP. It’ll be located in a supply cupboard near the central trading room. Grab the EMP and take it to the designated drop zone inside one of the trading kiosks.

Starbreeze Studios / Dexerto

If you’re unmasked, you’ll need to mask up here to activate the EMP. When it’s safe to do so, turn on the EMP and leave the area. You’ll have about ten seconds until it goes off. Once it does, guards will transition to Searching phase, which means the likelihood of them finding something suspicious increases.

Go back to the elevator shaft from earlier and go up the zipline. By now, Bile should arrive in his helicopter. Head to the escape zone and stand in it to complete the heist. And with that, you’ve completed Fear and Greed in stealth and also rounded off the Bad Apple campaign.

For all other heists in Payday 3, check out the full mission list. Make sure you also check out the best heists to make some fast cash, as well as how the new solo mode works.